One small step…

We all get caught up in our day-to-day livesÂ We’re stressed, under pressure,Â running around to meet deadlines. Sometimes it’s not a bad idea to sit back and take a breath.

I had an opportunity yesterday to do just that on what was an incredibly busy day – probably the most busy day of the year so far.

The Irish business launch of Windows Vista, 2007 Microsoft Office and Exchange 2007 took place at Croke Park in Dublin yesterday.Â Obviously from a professional perspective it represented the culmination of an incredibly intense period of planning and preparation. That’s before you throw in media and community activities around the event.

The keynote speaker for the launch was Neil Amstrong,Â the first man to walk on the surface of the moon.

Given that I have never been one to get overly excited about space travel, rockets, magnetic fields, solar flares or turbines, I doubted it would have an impact on me -Â but it did.

Standing and listening to him talk with a group of 10 and 11 year old school kids in private (this wasn’t a PR stunt) I was blown away by his life experiences.Â Seeing his achievements through the excitement and wonder of the kids had a major impact on me.Â

When you stop and think about what they achieved – at a time when their only computer had 4K memory – it’sÂ a staggering tale of bravery,Â intelligence and ingenuity.

It made me stop and think.Â Now that’s not a bad thing to do once in a time.Â